Association of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and IFN-γ with clinical response and survival in patients with MSS/pMMR mCRC treated with anti-PD-1 and VEGF inhibitors.
Authors: Zhuqing Liu, Qiong He, Jing Yang, Song Gao, Chao Qu, Yu Zhao, Jinguo Liu, Jianguo Wu, Hui Wang, Hong Qian, Wei Mao, Weixing Liu, Xianling Guo, Min Yuan, Zhongzheng Zhu, Qing Xu
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2023)

e14610 Background: The findings on the clinical effect of the therapy with anti-PD-1 Abs plus angiogenic receptor inhibitors in the treatment of MSS/pMMR mCRC have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive role of NLR and IFN-γ in mCRC treated with anti-PD-1 and angiogenic receptor inhibitors. Methods: A total number of 35 patients with MSS/pMMR colorectal cancer treated with anti-PD-1 and angiogenic receptor inhibitors at Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital (Shanghai, China) between December 2019 and January 2023 were retrospectively evaluated. We reviewed the tumor response and progression-free survival (PFS), and evaluated the associations among neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), cytokines, and outcomes in the treatment of MSS/pMMR mCRC. A cut-off value of 3 was adopted to discriminate patients with low (NLR &lt; 3) versus high (NLR &gt; 3) NLR. A cut-off value of 2.7 was employed to discriminate patients with low (IFN-γ &lt; 2.7) versus high (IFN-γ &gt; 2.7) IFN-γ. Tissue samples from the mCRC patients were stained with CD4, CD8 to establish the immune status. Results: Of the remaining 25 mCRC patients, 14 received sintilimab and fruquintinib, 3 received sintilimab and regorafenib, 6 received camrelizumab and fruquintinib, and 2 received raltizumab and fruquintinib. Two patients were treated with PEG-rhG-CSF, and one patient had myelosuppression after previous chemotherapy. Thus, the NLR ratio could not be calculated in these three patients. Meanwhile, among the 25 patients, 4 patients no cytokine test had been performed before the treatment with anti-PD-1 and VEGF inhibitors. Thus, cytokine analyses were conducted only in the remaining 21 patients. Partial response and stable disease were found in 5 (20%) and 8 (32%) patients, respectively. The disease control rate was 52%. The pretreatment NLR ratio and IFN-γ level of the responder and stable patients were higher than those in progressive patients ( P = 0.0010, n = 22; P = 0.0267, n = 21, respectively). Higher baseline levels of NLR ratio and IFN-γ was associated with longer progression-free survival in mCRC patients receiving anti-PD-1 and angiogenic receptor inhibitors. NLR and IFN-γ were also positively correlated with PFS (R 2 = 0.3334, P = 0.0049; R 2 = 0.4063, P = 0.0019) respectively. Patients getting clinical benefits (PR+SD) were found CD4+ T cells infiltrated (P = 0.0074). Conclusions: Higher NLR ratio and IFN-γ level are prognostic factors associated with longer progression-free survival and better response of MSS/pMMR mCRC patients to anti-PD-1 and angiogenic receptor inhibitors. NLR ratio and IFN-γ level pretreatment could be predictive factors of the response to anti-PD-1 and angiogenic receptor inhibitors in MSS/pMMR mCRC patients. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR2300067767 .